Looking Towards the Horizon - Book One: Swing of the Pendulum
by TheSaintsFollower
Summary: This is not how I wanted to spend my summer. But since I'm here, might as well kick ass, have some fun, and play a lot of children's card games. Let's do this.
1. Chapter 1

**Sooooooo...Yeah. I never thought that I'd write one of these, but hey, there's a first for everything. This may be a three parter, IDK. I feel like I have a lot planned, but again IDK. So, here we go.**

 **Chapter One: Big Blue D*****

A bright blue light filtered through my eyes as I felt my body being...pulled? Yanked? Whatever the term was, it happened to me. And all I can say is…

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!"

That hurt like hell! I can honestly say that it felt like I was being pulled apart...or you know, how I imagine being pulled apart feels like. After what felt like an eternity I was able to open my eyes.

...Look I really didn't expect to open my eyes and see what I saw. Nor did I really want to. Hell, in the coming times, when shit began to hit the fan at 100 miles an hour, I would always go back and baime the situation on the big blue phallic object.

"Excuse me Mr. White, but my eyes are up here."

I dragged my eyes away from _that_ and looked up. Like that the rest of the body of whoever - the - hell this was was also blue. In fact he was...glowing...blue.

I felt my eyes widen as I recognized the glowing, floating figure. I had just watched the movie a few weeks ago, so of course I knew who I was dealing with.

"I'm glad to see you are informed as to who I am. I'll be brief with you Mr. White. I get bored with messing with the same universes all the time. I honestly felt like I would be forced to watch the rise and falls of knights and gods over and over again. Finally, I had an idea which may relieve a little of my boredom: I would take a normal human, with no experience in such things, and implement them into a new world. I chose you. So please Mr. White, try to relieve some of my boredom."

As I opened my mouth to cuss out the near-omnipotent man in front of me, I began to feel the same pulling sensation as before. "OH FUCK YO-".

 **(Scene Change)**

 **(Undisclosed Location)**

"UUUUU!"

I felt my body coming back together, molecule by bloody fucking molecule. If this was how the man died and was reborn in his original world, then I officially wasn't jealous. Taking a few deep breaths to calm my nerves, I felt something vibrate in my front pocket. Digging my fingers into my front pocket I pulled out a pristine...Iphone? A bright blue Iphone, with a new message alert.

" _Welcome to a whole new world Mr. White. I hope you enjoy your adventure. The tools you'll be needing are in the backpack in front of you. I hope you like them."_

I took my eyes off the phone and saw the...bright pink My Little Pony backpack. I felt my eye twitch in irritation. "Fucking blue dick." I muttered under my breath, before the phone buzzed again.

" _It's also bigger than yours (= !"_

Sighing in irritation, I reached for the backpack and unzipped the main zipper. Dipping my hand into it, I felt a large rectangular metal object. Grabbing it, I pulled my hand out.

"Holy shitbiscuits." In my hand lay a dark silver Yu-Gi-Oh! Real Solid Vision DuelDisk from the Arc-V Yu-Gi-Oh! Series, a deck of cards already in the deck slot. I stared numbly at the DuelDisk, my mind racing at a million miles per hour. This was great! Even as a 16 year old, I was still in love with the Yu-Gi-Oh! Franchise. Hell, Arc-V was one of my favorite series, with the new cards, the interesting character development, the plot…

The plot..

"Oh God!" The images of the entire Arc-V series began to pass through my mind...well those I remember at any rate. Yuya's first pendulum summoning, his first duel with Declan/Reiji (bloody hell, if this was the English Sub and not Dub I was gonna be pissed.), the events of the Arc-League Championship, the Friendship Cup, crossing over into Heartland, going to Fusion, dueling the Professor, then Yuri, then…

My eyes widened as I thought about the duel that came next. If all of that came to pass than the four dimensions would have to deal with an incredibly powerful duelist with a cheap as hell deck. Someone who was not afraid to turn his very real dragons on people. Oh, to add to the pressure it wasn't just him. The entirety of Duel Academy would be out to turn people into freaking trading cards, and there was always the risk of getting crippled in a duel like Yusho Sakaki. Not to mention the fact that I had to go through the bloody Friendship Cup and deal with the fact that I may be thrown into a prison. Or a building. Or turned into Roget's little mechanical errand boy.

The more I thought about it, the more the pressure began to weigh down on me. Wait, what pressure. Dr. Blue Dongle just sent me here with the means to defend myself, should Duel Academy ever come calling. But I didn't have to get involved. I could just sit back and let the heroes deal with this. Hell, the people here weren't really people, just a bunch of anime characters. I didn't have to do a damn thing.

But could I live with myself? Could I live with that choice?

Bzzt! My eye twitched as the new phone buzzed again, shaking me from my internal struggle. Just two words appeared on the screen though.

" _Look up!"_

Looking up, I came face - to - face with a giant plasma screen. On the screen was a young man with red and green hair in a jester costume, riding a dragon. The boy had a smile on his face, a smile that seemed to light up the area around me, even if I wasn't there in person. The boy raised his hand and pointed at a giant ogre that was across from him.

" _Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack! Spiral Flame Strike!"_

I watched as the dragon leapt up, reared its head back, and let loose a beam of red and black energy. I watched as it slammed into the ogre, destroying it. I watched as the boy waived his hand around, the joy easily apparent on his face.

" _Winner Yuya Sakaki!"_

I continued to stare at the screen long after it shut off. Seeing that last shot of a duel...a real life duel...something I had dreamed about since I was a kid.

"Well damn, guess that helped." Sliding the DuelDisk onto my wrist and slinging the backpack onto my shoulders I turned and began to walk towards the horizon of Miami City. Towards an adventure of grand proportions. With only one thought on my mind.

 _'Where the hell is the YouShow Duel School?'_

 **Well, that's the first chapter. Hope y'all enjoyed. I'll give the details for the deck, as well as our sailor-mouthed protag's name in the next chapter. Let me know what you think.**

 **TheSaintsFollower, signing off.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: First Duel**

I'm not sure if I've said this before, but I hate most of the Self-Insert fics out there. There are a multitude of reasons as to why I do, but right now, the most prominent was the lack of detail that some of them go into as to how the respective protagonist finds the group/power/etc that he/she is after. Some of the lazy ones - i.e. the Twilight and Harry Potter SIs - just have the Insert appear before the original characters and everything turns out to be hunky dory.

Well reality has a tendency to kick your ass when your expectations are to high. Case in point: I've been scrounging around for the past week, trying to find the You Show Duel School, while also eating the scraps that people leave behind. To those of you who don't understand that: I've been dumpster diving for not spoiled, not bug infested food. Which has been a...rather trying journey.

But I think it all payed off. Why? Not in the way you would expect, but in a different manor. I was looking around the alleyways near some of the fast-food restaurants of this world - who knew McDonalds and Pizza Hut transcended dimensions! - when a rather...loud figure caught my attention.

"Right this way Yuya! We'll be at the Leo Institute soon!"

Walking past the alleyway was the resident loudmouth of Maiami City, Sylvio Sawatari. Beside him were his nameless goons and the very people I were looking for.

' _Yuya Sakaki and Zuzu Boyle. Well, best to follow them. At the very least I'll get to see Yuya's Dueling in the flesh.'_ I thought before another figure caught my eye. A short kid, with blue hair, wearing a blue jacket.

' _Oh right...Sora's following them. Huh, might be able to kill two birds with one stone if I play this right.'_

Doing my best to stay quiet, I followed after Sora who was following Yuya and Zuzu who were following Sylvio...who just wouldn't shut up.

' _Ok, so if I follow these guys, I'll be able to follow them back to You Show, than I can see about enrollment. Hopefully I can do this before Declan and his students try to buy the school. That would logically be my only real chance of talking to Declan. Then..'_

"So, you following me for a reason, pal?"

Ok, so maybe doing more thinking than I should have was not a very good idea when trying to follow someone. "Damn you Ezio, you made it look so easy."

"Yeah, I'm not really sure what your talking about, but I would like an answer." Sora Pearse said as he stood in front of me, hands behind his head with a lollipop in his mouth.

"Sorry man, I,,,I just heard that guy up there was going to the Leo Institute and I,,,"

Sora cut me off. "Except you weren't really following him. If you had, you wouldn't have followed me down this alley." He said while gesturing around him.

Looking around, I saw that he was right. I must have unconsciously followed him into this alley when I wasn't paying attention. "God damn Duel Academy and their freaky ninja training." I said under my breath. Apparently I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut or at the very least think these things through. Cause said Duel Academy ninja heard me and his whole attitude changed.

I know that all the descriptions I read on the show said that Leo Akaba was training these kids to be the Dueling equivalent of soldiers, but it still shook me to the core just how...intimidating this kid looked now. His eyes had narrowed, losing any of the playfulness that was there before. Best I could describe this new look was...experienced. He looked like this wasn't the first time, like he had to deal with this all the time. That loss of innocence, for a child of all things...it made me really nervous.

"Huh, guess you do know about Duel Academy. In that case." Sora said as he activated his duel disk, a sword shaped beam of energy erupting from it. "I can't let you leave."

Well...this was not what I wanted. Not at all. Ok, option one. "C'mon kid, you look like a reasonable person, I'm sure we can work something out -"

"I'm giving you an opportunity to Duel me. I could just turn you into a card right now." Sora said, his relaxed look morphing into a demented grin. "But I like it more when the prey puts up a struggle. So Duel me or else!"

Well Plan A failed. Plan B it is. Placing the backpack on the ground - and ignoring the snickers I heard from Sora - I pulled out the DuelDisk.

' _Good thing I fooled around with this thing before now. God, that would be the icing on the cake if I were to run into a duel not knowing how to work the damn thing.'_

I turned the device on and a beam of silver energy sprung forth. Unlike Sora's, mine was the standard Disk for the Standard Dimension, meaning the beam of energy of more straight than sword like. Looking at the deck - my deck - I closed my eyes in silent prayer. I was never the religious type, but when in Rome.

Opening my eyes, I locked onto Sora's, glaring at his casual smirk. "You want a duel Sora? Well you've got one."

"LET"S DUEL!"

Each of us drew our five cards as the lifepoint counters on our Disks ran up to 4000. Looking at my hand, I smiled as I had 5 rather good cards that were sure to help me.

"I'll go first!" Sora said, choosing a card. "I'll start by summoning **Fluffal Dog** in Attack Mode!" The admittedly cute stuffed dog appeared on his side of the field. "I'll set one face down and end my turn."

(Sora: 1 monster card, 1 facedown, 3 cards in hand, 4000 life points)

(Me: 0 monster cards, 0 facedowns, 5 cards in hand, 4000 life points)

"Alright, my turn. Draw!" Drawing the card at the top, I looked and smiled. "Alright Sora, I'd like you to meet my friend, **Skilled Dark Magician**!" I placed the effect monster on the beam in attack mode, the hologram coming to life in burst of color. " But I'm not done yet! I activate the Continuous Magic Card, **Magician's Right Hand**." I slid the blue card into the Magic and Trap Zone, the face-up hologram appearing on the field.

"Thanks to this, the first time you use a Magic Card or activate a monster effect while I have a Spellcaster on the field, that effect is negated." I explained, seeing Sora's eye twitch in irritation. "Not only that, but my **Magician** gains a spell counter." As i said that, one of the orbs on the magician's outfit lit up.

"I'm not done yet! Go **Skilled Dark Magician** , attack **Fluffal Dog**!" The blue clad sorcerer charged at the stuffed dog, as I slid a card into the GY. "Now I'll activate the effect of **Apprentice Illusion Magician** in my hand! By discarding her, I can give a Dark Type Spellcaster on field **2000** more attack points for the battle!"

The appreciation of the magical girl enveloped the magician on the field, raising his attack points to **3900.** The magician spun his staff and shot a bolt of dark lighting at the stuffed dog, completely destroying it.

"Now due to the difference in our monster's attack points you lose **2200** life points!"

Sora looked really pissed off now that I had damaged him like that. In fact, he seemed to be glaring a hole in my head. "I activate my trap card, **Fluffal Crane**! With this I can add the **Fluffal Dog** you destroyed back to my hand, then I can draw one card!" He did just that, before resuming his glare.

Ignoring him for now, I looked back at my hand and choose two cards. "I place two cards face down and end my turn!"

(Sora: 0 monster cards, 0 facedown cards, 5 cards in hand, 1800 life points)

(Me: 1 monster card, 1 face-up magic card, 2 facedown cards, 1 card in hand, 4000 life points)

"MY TURN!" Sora yelled out as he yanked the card into his hand. "You scum! You think you can do that to me! You'll see exactly just what I'm capable off! By the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging me to turn you into a card!"

I faked a yawn that seemed to piss him off even more. "I highly doubt that Sora. But please, do try."

"BASTARD! I play the continuous magic card **Toy Vendor**!" The big vending machine appeared behind Sora as my magic card glowed, before the machine vanished."

" **Magician's Right Hand** prevents your card from activating and destroys it."

"I know that! I just needed it out of the way in order to play this, the magic card **Polymerization**!" Sora said slamming the card into his Disk. I must have looked more than a little panicked, because Sora begin to smirk like crazy.

"You'll see just what I'm capable of! I fuse my **Edge Imp Sabers** with my **Fluffal Dog**! Demonic claws, sharp fangs! Become one in the mystic vortex and show us a new form of power! Fusion Summon! Appear, **Frightfur Tiger**!"

As he chanted the two monsters from his hand began to swirl in the orange and blue background that appeared behind Sora. The two finished merging, before a large, semi destroyed stuffed tiger with a pair of scissors in its stomach appeared, grinning maliciously.

My words don't really do the effects of the DuelDisk justice. The monster in front of me looked like it was ripped straight from that hospital nightmare scene in Akira. And the damn thing was glaring at me like it wanted to tear me to shreds. Which it probably did.

"Due to your use of a magic card, my Magician gains another spell counter!" I pointed out as another orb on my magician's robe light up.

Sora's grin threatened to split his face in two as he continued. "Doesn't matter, cause my monster has a special effect! It can destroy one card on the field, and I chose your Magician!" As he finished the tiger shot his scissors out, looking to skewer my magician.

"I'm not going to let you! I activate the Quick-Play Magic Card **Illusion Magic**!" I said as I quickly activated one of my face-downs. "I target my **Skilled Dark Magician** with this card! I sacrifice my magician and add two copies of **Dark Magician** to my hand!" I added the two copies of my ace to my hand as the Magician on the field disappeared.

"I'm not done yet! I activate the magic card **Suture Rebirth**! This card allows my Fluffal Dog to come back from the grave, but it's effects are negated!" The stuffed dog appeared beside the tiger, looking more than a touch out of place with the psycho tiger.

"Now, I attack with **Fluffal Dog**!" The dog began to charge at me, but before anything could come of that I played my facedown.

"Go **Magician's Navigation**! With this card I can summon a **Dark Magician** from my hand, as well as a level 7 or lower Spellcaster from my Deck!" Quickly placing the blue-skinned magician on the field, I thought about the monster I could use to help this situation. I made up my mind and used the screen on my Disk to chose. "I summon the **Magician of Dark Illusion** in Defence mode!" The ghostly magician appeared next to the **Dark Magician** with its arms crossed in front of it.

Sora growled in anger. "I end my turn!"

(Sora: 2 monsters on the field, 0 cards facedown, 1 card in hand, 1800 life points)

(Me: 2 monsters on the field, 1 Magic Card, 0 cards facedown, 2 cards in hand, 4000 life points)

"My turn!" I said drawing a card from my deck. I thought about my next move, before realizing just how much I could get under Sora's skin. "I sacrifice the **Dark Magician** on my field in order to Special Summon **Dark Eradicator Warlock**!" **Dark Magician** began to glow with a dark purple aura before he shattered into pieces. The pieces then reformed themselves into the **Dark Eradicator Warlock**.

"I'm not done yet Sora! Did you know that while my **Magician of Dark Illusion** is on the field he is treated as **Dark Magician**." The confused and irritated look on the kid's face told me no. "Because of this effect I can now activate the Magic Card **Thousand Knives**!" Floating knives appeared around the Magician.

"This card allows me to destroy one monster on the field automatically and I chose your **Frightfur Tiger**!"

The knives flew and impaled the tiger before it exploded. Sora looked both furious and more than a little pissed off.

"Not only that, but due to the effect of my **Warlock** , you lose 1000 life points!"

As Sora's points dropped to 800 I couldn't help but smirk. This was what I wanted! The thrill of dueling, the power and adrenaline coursing through my body! This felt great!

"Now I take my level 7 **Dark Magician** and my level 7 **Dark Eradicator Warlock** and Overlay them!" I exclaimed while raising my hand in the air, taking some real joy in seeing the shocked look on Sora's face as my monster turned into purple orbs and flew up into the sky.

"Ultimate summoner who manipulates the darkness! Descend now and send my foes to their eternal rest! XYZ Summon! Appear, **Ebon Illusion Magician**!" I removed the monster from my extra deck and placed it on the field in Attack Mode.

The monster descended from the overlay network, spinning his staff. "Now I use his special ability. I remove one overlay unit in order to special summon a **Dark Magician** from my Deck!" The magician appeared onto the field before glaring at Sora.

"It's time for the final curtain! **Dark Magician** attack with **Dark Magic Attack**!" The blue-clad magician extended his hand and fired a dark beam that shattered **Fluffal Dog** and dropped Sora's life points down to **0** as the boy was flown back into a group of trash cans.

Deactivating my DuelDisk and shuffling my cards back into my deck, I turned my back to the struggling Duel Academy student.

"When you run back to Leo Akaba, tell him that Jonathan White is coming to tear down everything he wants to achieve. Catch yah round kid." I shot over my shoulder as I walked out of the alley.

 **Well now, here's chapter two. The first duel against Sora, the reveal of the Deck Archetype (Dark Magicians), and the name of the the Protag. Full Deck list below**

 **Dark Magician of Chaos x 1**

 **Dark Eradicator Warlock x 1**

 **Dark Magician x 3**

 **Palladium Oracle Mahad x 1**

 **Magician of Dark Illusion x 1**

 **Apprentice Illusion Magician x 3**

 **Skilled Dark Magician x 3**

 **Magician's Valkyria x 2**

 **Magician's Robe x 2**

 **Magician's Rod x 2**

 **Magician's Right Hand**

 **Magician's Left Hand**

 **Dark Magical Circle x 2**

 **Eye of Timeaus**

 **Dark Magic Attack x 2**

 **Thousand Knives x 2**

 **Dark Magic Curtain x 2**

 **Chaos Scepter Blast**

 **Dedication of Light and Darkness**

 **Illusion Magic**

 **Magicalize Fusion**

 **Eternal Soul x 2**

 **Mirror Force x 2**

 **Magic Cylinder x 2**

 **Magician's Navigation x 3**

 **Magician's Circle x 2**

 **Threatening Roar x 1**

 **Dark Renewal x 1**

 **Extra Deck**

 **Dark Magician the Dragon Knight x 1**

 **Amulet Dragon x 1**

 **Dark Paladin x 1**

 **? x 1**

 **Ebon High Magician x 1**

 **Ebon Illusion Magician x 1**

 **? x 1**

 **Magi Magi * Girl x 1**

 **Alchemic Magician x 1**

 **Downerd Magician x 1**

 **Number of Cards in Deck: 47.**

 **I'm goin be making some cards (Pendulum and others) that'll be implemented. Hope yall like this chapter. Let me know in the comments.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! Back for the third chapter! Hope everyone likes this so far. Big thanks to my beta Angryboy13. I also made an edit to the deck above, putting the trap Magical Hats in the deck...got it memorized.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Refugees from XYZ**

Last week had been hell. After beating Sora – which always made me feel better when I thought about it – I had tried to get back on Yuya and the other's trail. The problem then arose when I made several wrong turns and made the resident robins my new mortal enemies. The only positive thought that came from that was that these bastards don't sprout multiple arms...wings...whatever.

Anyways, after starting a war with those flying varmints, I finally made it to the Leo Institute...only to find that somehow Sora had gotten back up, made his way ahead of me, and found Yuya, Yuzu, and the little brats from the junior league that follow the two around – I don't really remember their names. The only thing that was left at the dueling field was a knocked out Sylvio and his buddies.

So, I had to re-think my plan. Unfortunately, my backup plan involved trying to go meet Declan Akaba. Which had...less than favorable results.

 _"Look, I need to speak to Declan Akaba. It's a matter of life and death."_

 _The security guys I was speaking to looked at each other, back to me, then back at each other, and then back to me._

 _"Look son, we know who you are."_

 _"Trust me mate, you have no idea who I am."_

 _"We know you're one of Mr. Akaba's various fans. You probably want an autograph or something. I mean, what else would someone like you want with someone like him."_

 _Noticing the tone in their voices, I cocked an eyebrow. "The hell do you mean someone like me?"_

 _"Just look at yourself."_

 _I looked in the polished glass of the Leo Institute and had to admit to their point. The past few weeks had not been kind to me. My hair was untamed and dirty, my clothes had various stains and holes (fucking birds!), and I looked like a bum._

 _Hell, I could see the stink lines coming off me._

 _All in all, I was the poster boy for the stereotypical teenage bum._

 _One of the guards must have noticed my surprised look and put a hand on my shoulder._

 _"Look son, there's a shelter a few blocks down. Should be some vacancies and maybe they can contact someone from child services for you."_

 _I opened my mouth to reply – I had a rather nice one about the man's sunglasses – when a light bulb went off in my head._

 _"Actually, sir that would be nice. Do you have a map to spare by the way...I'm kinda new to town and don't really know my way around?"_

 _The guard nodded and went inside, coming back out a few moments later with a tourist map of the city. Handing it to me and pointing out where the shelter was, the guards once again, politely asked me to leave._

 _Turning on my heels, I left. Smiling at the map the whole way._

[Remember to use line breaks]

I did end up going to that shelter, where I was blessed with a change of clothes, a place to shower, sleep, and eat. I also convinced them not to call child services and let me stay there for a few days.

 _"Welcome to M.E.A.L. young man." A tall man in a nice black business suit said as he approached me. "My name is Martin. Is there something I can do for you?"_

 _"Yes sir." I responded. "You see I'm new to Maiami City and I don't really have a place to stay - "_

 _"Say no more,"_

 _Rose his hand, interrupting me._

 _"M.E.A.L exist to help those who need help. That includes having a roof over one's head and food to eat. In your case, I suppose a shower and a change of clothes would be necessary as well."_

 _Putting his arm around my shoulder, Martin began to lead me to an elderly woman who was putting chairs out in front of an old TV._

 _"May, a moment of your time?"_

 _The lady turned around, revealing an old, caring face with kind green eyes. "This young man is new to Maiami and doesn't have a place to stay. Do you know if we have any vacancies available for the near future?"_

 _"Let me check," May said before heading off in the direction of the kitchen, coming back a few seconds later with a clipboard in hand. "As a matter of fact, we do." Smiling first at Martin, then at me, May gestured for me to follow her._

 _I followed the king lady into the back, a flick turned on the lights and what I saw puzzled me. It was the picture perfect example of a super janitor's closet, there was a box of gloves arranged in color, a bin of various cleaning supplies, and much more. However it was also supplied with a washing machine and dryer. Wait, they couldn't possibly want me to become their maid?!_

 _Oh well, it can't be that bad._

Aside from maid duty, I also had to help keep some of the other people company and such. In return Martin and May pointed me in the direction of the docks, where I went almost every day, messing with my deck, picking up new cards from workers there, and looking around. Since Plan Akaba was down, I was gearing up for Plan XYZ.

Originally, I had wanted to go to Declan Akaba, explain what was going on with me, and basically spill the beans on the entire story. Barging into a rich school and demanded to meet the CEO really wasn't a good idea now that I think about it. Back to the important parts, I was hanging around the docks waiting for the right visitors.

And here they are now.

* * *

 **(With Sora)**

In his own opinion, Sora Perse lived a simple life. The life of a soldier – and a damn good one. He followed his orders, he turned people in cards, he invaded other dimensions, and he ate lollipops. Hell, ever since he could remember it, his life had been simple.

He had gone to Duel Academy, excelled as a Fusion Duelist, excelled in the physical fitness program, excelled in the technology program. But Sora never thought of these accomplishments as anything out of the norm – he had always been smarter, stronger, better than kids his age.

" _Except for...him,_ "

A flash of purple running through his head, a shiver crawled down his spine.

However, the past few weeks had been anything but simple. The Professor had sent him to this dimension – dubbed Standard by the man himself – on a mission:

•Infiltrate the Leo Institute

•Learn their secrets

•Locate the girl with the silver bracelet, Zuzu Boyle & watch over her

After arriving in the Standard Dimension, Sora knew something had gone wrong. Instead of being sent in the vicinity of the Leo Institute Sora was instead sent to the middle of the city.

Not understanding what had gone wrong, Sora proceeded to make his way to the Leo Institute when something caught his eye. It was Zuzu Boyle, walking alongside some kid with tomato hair and what appeared to be a peacock disguised as a human.

Sora had done a double take when he saw the face of the boy near Zuzu. It looked exactly like _him_. The face...the eyes... alone the resemblance to that monster made Sora nervous.

However, orders were orders, so Sora followed. The peacock had stated loudly that they were going to Leo Institute and, Sora saw it, he could wipe out two birds with one stone.

At least that's what he thought.

While following Zuzu and the others, Sora noticed that someone was following him. And not very well either. Leading the person to a back alley away from the main group, Sora had confronted the stalker. The kid was around his age and tried making some excuses before revealing who he was. A survivor of XYZ.

Sora's rage ignited, remembering the humiliation at being played by that punk. He had assumed that the kid was a nobody, just some XYZ trash that he could deal with in his sleep. Instead, the kid's deck had been quick and efficient, countering his combos and making him waste his cards. If he just had a better hand then the kid would have already have been a crumpled card in a trash can.

But he learned. Sora knew that the kid wasn't some dueling prodigy, just some lucky punk.

" _I won't be happening again, never._ " Sora thought darkly as he followed Zuzu into an abandoned warehouse. " _The next time I see Jonathan White nothing will stop me from turning that punk into a card!_ "

Speaking of carding, Sora knew that something was wrong in this city. He had been at the You Show Duel School when the students from the Leo Institute had shown up. During that time two events struck Sora.

The first was something he had already seen coming: Declan Akaba knew how to Pendulum Summon and had developed his own Pendulum Cards. All of that was to be expected, seeing as how Declan was the Professor's son. Hell, the Professor had ordered that no one should _EVER_ engage Declan Akaba in a duel.

The other news, however, unnerved Sora. Someone was going around and carding teachers from the Leo Institute. While Sora couldn't care less about those teachers, he was concerned about the possibility of a rouge Duel Academy student. It had happened before and said student's either went one of two ways: they went to that underground Duel School back in Fusion, or they broke – mentally that is – and began to card people at random while hopping dimensions.

After checking with the Professor – who admitted that, as of now, there were no other agents in Standard aside from him and Dennis – Sora became more and more apprehensive about being outside for too long. He was confident in his skills and knew he could handle nearly everyone he came across, but if someone was good enough to hurt him...Sora just didn't want to be asked a million questions by people (mainly Yuya's mom or Yuya himself) about how he got those injuries.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Sora looked around the place Zuzu brought him to. A normal warehouse on the docks, but something screamed out to Sora. A lifetime of being trained to be a soldier had installed a soldier's danger instincts in the pintsized duellist. Said instincts were now screaming 'DANGER!'.

"Sooooo what do you need Zuzu?"

"During my duel with Julie I... well. I was destroyed, utterly. I want to change that, to be able to stand and fight with the best of them and in order to do that, I need to evolve my dueling so I did my research and it turns out my deck supports Fusion so Sora, can you please teach me how to Fusion Summon?"

Sora looked at the pinkette with interest. He could understand why the girl would want to get stronger – she was weak, the duel against that fake fusion duelist had shown Sora that. But when he looked into her eyes Sora could tell it was more than that. He saw a fire burning inside of Zuzu, a fire that told him that no matter what; Zuzu would be a duelist capable of standing alongside Yuya.

" _What the hell. It won't hurt anyone and if it makes her stronger it'll be easier to keep an eye on her for the Professor._ "

"I can do that. But I'm going to need you to listen to me every step of the way. In order to fusion summon like I can, you need to follow my directions to the letter."

Whatever Zuzu was about to say was cut off as a figure moved into Sora's peripheral vision and leapt. Their Duel Disk powered up with the blade coming down on Sora.

Spinning on his heels, Sora managed to turn his own Disk on quick enough to block the incoming figure, causing him to come to halt, deadlocked with Sora.

" _Now things become interesting._ "

* * *

 **(With Jonathan)**

I was hidden behind a pair of shipping crates, peering out from behind to confirm that Sora and Zuzu had gone into the warehouse. Knowing that two rather noisy duelists would be following them soon, I began to run into the warehouse, ducking behind a few crates to keep myself hidden.

"Sora will you please teach me to fusion summon?"

I nodded to myself as everything I remembered was falling into place. That meant that Yuto would appear-

BZRT!

Right about now. While Sora was deadlocked with Yuto, I snuck around to be behind Yuto, waiting for the right time.

It came running through the front of the warehouse in the form of Julie Crystal, the Fusion Summoner from the Leo Institute. If my memory served me right, she was currently looking for the guy who caused her professor to 'disappear'...oh right, that was Shay. Gonna wanna talk to him about that, can't just have him violently lashing out at civilians.

Shaking my head, I watched as Julie pulled out her own Duel Disk, the orange bar light up.

" _No time like the present,_ "

I ran out from behind the crates, running full tilt at Yuto.

My movement caused the assembled foursome to look at me with mostly shocked expressions – except for Yuto and Sora, the latter of who looked really, really...really pissed. Making my way over, I stood behind Yuto, before raising my left arm and activated my Duel Disk.

The two girls looked at me nervously before Julie decided to speak out. "Who are you? And are you with this guy?"

"Heartland."

* * *

 **(Yuto's POV)**

This day was getting frustrating as the stranger it got. First, all my efforts to find Shay were in vain. Then I find that girl who looks like Lulu – Zuzu – talking with someone from Duel Academy.

At that point, I attacked the boy, to prevent him from corrupting the young girl. However he stopped my surprise attack, unfortunately. Which means I have to duel one of Duel Academies stop soldiers without backup Thank's a lot Shay.

Then another girl comes in demanding an answer about someone being carded – Shay's work no doubt. I was going to take them both on, THANK'S A LOT SH-

THAN another duellist ran out from behind. He stood beside me and activated his Duel Disk, but something was wrong.

On top of the fact that the assembled girls looked confused as to which this kid was, the Obelisk Force flunky looked pissed at seeing the guys face. That told me that whoever he was, whatever his origins, he was neither friend of Duel Academy nor these two. Then the boy opened his mouth.

"Heartland."

Heartland. That one word stopped my heart beat. My home...my destroyed home. My mind ran through possibilities after possibilities about how that kid knew about Heartland City. Was he a native I had never seen? Was he a Duel Academy spy? Was he a turncoat? The possibilities grew and yet each new answer seemed as unlikely as the next.

What happened next was a blur. Zuzu's bracelet glowed and I began to feel...tingly. Like a string gently untangling from a knot. The boy grabbed me before I could turn around, I was gone.

* * *

 **(Jonathan's POV)**

The thing about teleportation is that it's not all the same. When Dr. Blue transported me, it felt like I was being torn apart, atom-by-atom. With this though it was more...gentle. Like hard pasta turning soft. Another thing to keep in mind was that my first two teleport left my mental state completely aware of the travel. In other words, I could consciously feel my very essence traveling through time and space to reach the desired destination. With this it was instantaneous. Honestly, I'm writing that off as Ray being much less of an asshole than Manhattan.

Looking around, I noticed two things. One was that I was on the roof of a building staring up at the Leo Institute Tower. The next was...oh shit!

Yuto was showing me just how much he appreciated my actions earlier by lifting me up by the collar. To make things worse he walked forward while carrying me until my entire body was hanging off the edge of the building.

Looking down then back at Yuto, I tried to lighten the mood by doing what I do best: sarcasm.

"You know, I've always wanted to go bungee jumping."

 _CRACK_

Quick as a flash, Yuto had punched my face.

"Ahh! That's my eye!"

"The rest of your body is going to go splat if you don't tell me who you are and how you know about Heartland."

Yuto demanded Zarc's anger was defiantly inherited.

"Hey man take it easy! I'm on your side." I exclaimed, waving my hands frequently.

"Talk, my arms are getting tired."

Gulping, I tried thinking about what to say next before Yuto lost his patience and I ended up like a crushed tomato.

"Ok soooooooo...I'll only tell you when Shay Obsidian is here to listen."

Wait, that was a stupid thing to say. Shit! Me and my big ducking mouth. I wonder if Dr. Blue allows second chances?

Yuto seemed to stiffen and pulled me face to face.

"If you're lying then it would be better for me to take care of you now. Because if Shay knows you're lying-"

"Yeah yeah I'll become a damn trading card, I get the picture,"

I said before smirking.

"But if Shay and yourself want to find where Lulu Obsidian is and how to defeat Duel Academy then you're gonna need me alive."

Yuto's eyes widened at the mention of Shay's little sister before pulling are back onto the roof and dropping me down. I breathed deeply while clutching my throat, all the while ignoring Yuto's pointed glare. Turning to face the still glaring eggplant, I nodded in appreciation.

"Don't go thanking me just yet. We still need to find Shay."

"That's easy." I said while spinning my finger around. "He's on one of the rooftops looking at the Leo Building."

Yuto's glare turned flat.

"You do realize every rooftop in this city can see the tallest building in all of Maimai?"

"Oh...well do you have any better ideas?"

The pointed stare I received told me everything I needed to know.

"Ok, then I guess it's the old-fashioned way."

Yuto didn't bother to respond, simply pointing a finger behind me. Quickly turning around, I saw a figure in purple dropping down from a nearby building, landing in a crouch in front of us. The figure had a dark red scarf covering the lower half of his face, while his eyes were covered by a set of goggles, which did nothing to hide the glare clearly aimed at me.

"Ahhh...mission accomplished Yuto." I said, trying to mask the nerves that climbed my body.

"So now that everyone's here why don't we get down to business and -"

"I heard everything,"

Shay cut me off while striding over towards me, stopping a few inches from me, his form towering over me like an obelisk. "I heard you mention my sister and that you know a way to save her."

"Yep, and I actually-"

"There is only one reason that I can think of why you would that."

Shay interrupting me **again** while poking my chest rather hard.

"You're a Duel Academy agent, aren't you!"

Shay's accusation rang out through the air affecting the three of us differently. Yuto raised his arm, preparing his Duel Disk. Shay... I couldn't really tell what was going on in that head of his. Couldn't see his facial movements or anything, though I imagine he was glaring at me.

As for myself, well...

"HAHAHAHAHAH!"

After getting over the shock of Shay's accusation, I began to snicker, which soon turned into a full out laugh.

"Oh boy, you think I'm a Duel Academy spy! That's rich coming from the guy who's going around concealing his identity and turning people into cards!"

I shot back at Shay, who stiffened for a moment before grabbing me by the collar and pulling me closer to his face.

"What was that?!"

My shit eating grin seemed to intensify.

"Sorry was I not clear? You go around hiding your face, challenging the innocent people of this city to duels, and then card the loser. That sounds oddly what the Obelisk Force would do."

The two of us continued to stare at each other, neither one backing down. Eventually, Shay dropped me on my butt than walked over to Yuto and beginning to quietly discuss something. Climbing to my feet, I waited for the two to stop talking, while also trying subtly prep my Duel Disk for a fight.

A few minutes later the two looked back at me, both still glaring, before Shay removed his glasses and lowered his scarf, his yellow eyes bearing down on me like a raptor...huh that worked for him.

"You have 10 minutes to tell us everything we need to know about Lulu. If you don't -"

"I spend some time as a card?" I guessed cheekily.

Shay's eyes narrowed even more. "No. Worse."

That was it. All he needed to say was that one word. That one word was enough to fully convince me that if I didn't tell them the truth, or even if they didn't like what I was saying, I would most likely end up dead. Like the 'Do not pass go, do not collect $200' type of dead.

I gathered my memories of the ploy, most them camerather swiftly – especially those about Lulu and Yuto. Taking a deep breath, I stood up and looked them both in the eye – which was hard given that the one of mine was beginning to swell.

"Now please listen to everything before asking questions,"

I take a deep breath.

"All of this-" I said while gesturing around. "-this dimension, your dimension, the Fusion Dimension. None of that existed. Not until two decades ago only one dimension existed. This dimension was like this one, as well as your own, except for one key difference: all three summoning methods - Fusion, Synchro, XYZ – all of them were used by the duellists in this Original Dimension. There was one duellist that had mastered all the summoning methods. This duellist was named Zarc, and he was well on his way to becoming the Number 1 duellist in the world. But then Zarc went mad. Driven insane by the bloodlust demanded by the crowds who watched him duel, Zarc used the technology of his universe and became a monster. In a rampage, Zarc tore through his dimension, destroying everything in his path. Hundreds died, both in attempts to stop Zarc and in attempts to run away."

Taking a breath, I looked at the faces of the two in front of me, which displayed disbelief at the news that their dimension wasn't real.

"Fortunately for the world at large, there were two people who had the bravery and intelligence to combat Zarc's new power and form. A girl named Ray and her father, Leo Akaba."

Shay's eyes widened in anger his mouth opening – most likely to call bullshit on that – when Yuto put an arm in front of him, stopping him.

"Not now,"

The taller teen to back off, a scowl still on his face.

Nodding in gratitude, I continued.

"Leo Akaba used his intellect to create four cards. These special cards could be used to defeat Zarc. Leo intended to use the cards himself – a move which required one to sacrifice their own person for the greater good. However, Ray, who went on to use them she, stole the cards from Leo's lab. In doing so, she separated herself and Zarc into 4 beings each – 4 girls for Ray and 4 boys for Zarc, each fragment carrying a piece of Zarc or Ray's being. In order to prevent Zarc from ever coming back – by way of reuniting the four fragmented boys – Ray made sure that one of her fragments would always be near one of the boys."

Stopping again, I looked at the two XYZ users. I could see that Shay was lost, or he didn't care, I really couldn't tell. Yuto, on the other hand, was putting the pieces together, with horror dawning his face.

"I'm assuming the two of you can connect the dots from there."

"Not really."

Shay's scowl never leaving his face.

"In fact, all you did was tell us some fairy tale. Am I really supposed to believe that Leo Akaba wanted to save the world? Or that there was this demon who - "

"I never told you about Zarc's ace cards." I said cutting Shay off.

"He wielded 4 powerful dragons, known as the Supreme King Dragons. He had one for each method of summoning: Fusion, Synchro, XYZ, and Tribute. These dragons were purified by Ray and sent with each of Zarc's components, in order to keep those cards apart as well. These purified cards are known as Odd-Eyes Dragon, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, and-"

"Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon."

Both Shay and I looked at Yuto, who was looking down, his face unreadable. "That's what you were going to say right?"

I nodded. "That's correct. Yuto...you are one of the components of Zarc. And if my memory is correct, you've also met the other avatars of Zarc."

Yuto didn't respond, too immersed in what I could only assume was an existential crisis. Shay, on the other hand, was more...annoyed. "Is there a point to this story?"

"Use your head Shay." Yuto said quietly. "He wouldn't be telling this story if it wasn't both true and relevant to the situation."

I nodded. "Yep." I thought about what needed to be said next, before choosing the third route: Fuck It.

"So Yuto is one of Z-Arc's components and Lulu is one of Ray's. Any questions?"

That comment seemed to really set Shay off something fierce, as one moment he was standing in front of me, vibrating with rage, and the next...

"AGGGH! THAT'S MY EYE!"

...Well let's just say it was going to be a long night.

* * *

 **Cut!**

 **Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. If you liked the way this is, go click the name at the top and read other works of mine. Also, big thanks to Angryboy13, my beta reader.**

 **TheSaintsFollower, signing out.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm back in action. Hopefully for while! And I hope all of you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Chapter 4: Road to the Junior Arc League Championship – Part 3**

* * *

The three of us sat on the roof in total silence. Well silence for the two XYZ users. I was doing the best I could to inform them of the current plan I had in mind.

"So to reiterate, the first step should be to make contact with Declan Akaba. He's the only one in this dimension who has both the technology and the ability to aid us in going to Duel Academy and defeating the Professor."

Neither one spoke, both looking intently at the roof. Shay was brooding. He had the pissed off look, the furrowed brow, the whole nine yards. Yuto on the other was looking more...contemplative. Like he was processing the information I had told him. Which, I mean, makes sense.

"Why Declan Akaba?" Yuto finally said. "I would think he would support his father."

"You'd be wrong. Not really my place to tell, but Declan most certainly does not approve of his father's actions."

Yuto nodded before looking down again. Geez, this kid was an angsty little -

"You two do whatever you want. I don't care."

Shay had risen to his feet as he spoke and began to walk towards the edge of the roof. Looking back at the still silent Yuto, I sighed.

"I'm gonna regret this." I mumbled as I got to my feet and quickly moved in front of him. "Going somewhere Bird-Boy?"

Shay opted to glare at me before wordlessly shoving past.

' _Ignore me...oh this will be fun.'_

"You know its no wonder your sister got taken." I said causing Shay to stop, his back still to me. "I mean look at you. You're her big brother. Her family. You're supposed to protect her and all you could do was fail. You failed her just like you failed you failed your home."

I could see his fist clenching in anger as his whole body shook. I took a breath to steady myself – while also reminding myself that If I got hit in the eye again, I'd probably have problems with seeing – before continuing.

"But the reason you failed is because of your constant insistence on going off alone." I couldn't help but soften my tone as I got closer to Shay.

"I understand that it's hard to see your friends get hurt in front of you. And I get that you're frustrated with everything that is happening. But running off on your own without help is a surefire way to get yourself in trouble."

I was now within five yards or so of Shay. A good enough distance for what I had planned next.

"And I'm not about to let you leave without a fight. So Shay," I said as I raised my DuelDisk covered arm and activated it, a smile crossing my face as I prepared my inner nerd for my next line. "put up your fucking dukes, cause it's time to duel!"

Shay finally turned around and looked at me with cold fury in his eyes. But I think I could see something else. Aside from the rage and misery that, at this moment, defined Shay's character, I could see something I couldn't describe...but whatever it was had to be better than the dark knight I saw in front of me.

"You...are insane." Shay said after a moment before raising his own arm. "But I have no problem showing you that I don't need any help defeating Duel Academy. Especially not from a crazy bastard like yourself."

The blade of his DuelDisk lit up, the blue extension shinning in the darkness.

"Now..."

"LETS DUEL!"

 _(Shay: 5 cards in hand/0 cards on the field/4000 LP)_

 _(White: 5 cards in hand/0 cards on the field/4000 LP)_

The both of us drew 5 cards, neither one moving an inch. I looked at the cards I had drawn. While I hadn't got as lucky as I had with Sora, I knew that it wasn't that big of a deal. The Dark Magician Archetype is versatile and extremely powerful. That being said, I know that I can't take it easy. Shay is good, really good in fact. One of the top three duelist from Heartland, and easily one of the top three Lancers in canon.

Good thing the point of this duel wasn't to win...

"My move!" Shay said as he selected a card. "I summon **Raidrapter – Napalm Dragonius (Att:1000/Def:1000)** in Attack Mode!" The cyan colored bird of prey appeared with a cry and flash of fire. Wait...fire!

"Oh shit."

"I use **Napalm Dragonius's** effect! Once per turn I can deal 600 points of damage to my opponent! NOW BURN!"

The mechanical bird flew towards me and let loose a torrent of flames. I crossed my arms in defense, hopping that it wouldn't hurt too bad.

"AHHHHHHH!"

I was very wrong. The flames rolled over me as my body exploded with pain. If I had to guess, this is how it felt to be in an oven turned up to max. My exposed skin began to turn red as the flames died down. Looking over my exposed skin, I could see that I had first degree burns covering my hands, with smoke coming off my cloths. Taking a moment, I lightly touched the sleeve of my shirt, only to wince as pain flared up.

' _That...that burned my clothes...HOLY SHIT!'_

I knew that the real solid vision technology in the DuelDisk made for a more entertaining duels, but I thought there were safety measures -

' _Those are for Action Duels! Not these duels! Not the damn substitute for war!'_

Taking a breath to calm myself, I looked back over at Shay, who was still glaring at me in anger. "Next, I Special Summon **Raidraptor – Fuzzy Lanius (Att:500/Def:1500)**!" The purple bird appeared next to **Napalm Dragonius** in a flash of sparks. "Thanks to **Fuzzy Lanius's** special effect, I can special summon it to the field when I control a different **Raidraptor**!"

Shay looked over the cards in his hand before glancing up at me. "I end my turn."

 _(Shay: 3 cards in hand/2 on the field/4000 LP)_

 _(White: 5 cards in hand/0 on the field/3600 LP)_

"I'm not impressed." Shay snorted as his glare continued. "You think you'll be able to help us take down Duel Academy? Do you know the kind of monsters they have! There machines of war tower over other monsters and can crush buildings flat! HOW CAN YOU FACE THAT WHEN YOU CAN'T EVEN TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF DAMAGE!"

I glared right back at Shay before placing my hand on my deck. "I draw!"

Looking at my hand I noticed that the set-up wasn't bad, but not as good as when I dueled Sora. Still...

"I summon **Chocolate Magician Girl (Att:1600/Def:1000)** in attack mode." A flash of light shone on roof as the blue colored female magician appeared on the field, before flying back resting her elbows above my head. "The I use her special effect! By discarding a Spellcaster type monster I can draw a card from my deck." Looking at my hand, I noticed the **Dark Magician** residing in it. When combined with **Chocolate Magician Girl's** special effect...

"I discard **Dark Magician** and draw!" I placed the magician in the grave before drawing from the top of my deck and looking. _'Oh, thank you deck!'_

"Now I set two cards facedown and attack! **Chocolate Magician Gir** l take out **Fuzzy Lanius**!"

Chocolate left the area above my head for Shay's Raptor, her staff glowing. She was right above her target when another bird interrupted her, slamming into her, with both vanishing into a shower of sparks.

"What the..."

"I activated the effect of **Raidrapter – Booster Strix (Att:100/Def:1700)** in my hand." Shay said while holding the card towards me. "By banishing **Booster Strix** I can destroy a monster that attacks one of mine."

Gnashing my teeth, I prepped myself for his next onslaught. "I end my turn."

 _(Shay – 2 cards in hand/ 2 on the field / 4000 LP)_

 _(White – 3 cards in hand/ 2 on the field/ 3400 LP)_

"My turn!" Shay said while drawing. "And I'll use **Napalm Dragonius's** effect again, dealing you 600 points of damage!"

The Raptor cried out as flames once again bathed my body. I had to bite forcefully on the inside of my cheek to keep from crying out in pain as I felt the heat around me rise and parts of my skin beginning to blister. _'Jesus...I can't take many more of these.'_

"Now I Overlay my two level 4 Raidraptors!" Shay roared out as he pointed to the sky, the two birds on the field turning into dark purple energy spheres and flying into the emerging XYZ hole.

"Avian hunter of the afterlife, seek the truth with your dark eyes, and grasp glory with your sharp talons! Xyz Summon! Take flight! Rank 4! **Raid Raptor - Force Strix (Att:100/Def:2000)**!"

The small bird appeared in an explosion of energy and a sharp caw.

"I set one card face down and end my turn."

The facedown appeared behind Force Strix, with Shay's eyes never leaving their ever-present glare.

 _(Shay – 2 cards in hand/ 2 on the field/ 4000 LP)_

 _(White – 3 cards in hand/ 2 on the field/ 2800 LP)_

"Before I draw, I activate the Continuous Trap, **Eternal Soul.** " I clicked the button on my disk, with the trap springing up from the field. "With this effect, I can special summon the **Dark Magician** from my hand or Graveyard once per turn. So, I Special Summon **Dark Magician (Att:2500/Def:2100)**!"

A tablet of stone appeared on the field as a glowing ball of energy emerged from my disk's grave slot, flying into the stone statue. The statue glowed before shattering, revealing a revived Dark Magician, who spun his staff and stood in front of me.

"Now I draw." Looking at the four cards in my hand, I began to think before deciding on the best course of action. "I place one monster facedown. Then I place on card facedown. That's all for now."

The two face down's appeared on the field in a bright light before the card in the backfield vanished.

 _(Shay – 2 cards in hand/ 2 on the field/ 4000 LP)_

 _(White – 2 cards in hand/ 5 on the field/ 2800 LP)_

"Draw! And it's time I ended this farce of a duel!" Shay said as he placed a card in his backfield before flinging his hand forward.

"I play **Rank-Up Magic Skip Force**! With this I can Rank-Up and XYZ monster on the field and XYZ summon one that's two ranks higher!" Force Strix glowed before flying up into the now present XYZ summoning hole.

"Prideful falcon. Spread your wings, dyed in the blood of heroes, and charge through the path of revolution! Rank Up Xyz Change! Appear! Rank 6! **Raid Raptors - Revolution Falcon (Att:2000/Def:3000)**!"

The pitch-black falcon appeared on the field with a mighty cry while wreathed in flames. The flames settled as the bird of prey glared at the monsters on my field. "Now it's time to finish this! I use one overlay unit to use **Revolution Falcon's** effect: One of your special summoned monsters loses all its attack points!" A small cannon emerged from the underside of the bird, charging and firing a dark purple beam, which slammed into **Dark Magician** , who fell to his knees as his attack drained to nothing.

"Now when **Revolution Falcon** attacks you'll be dealt both battle damage and the original attack points of your monster! GO **REVOLUTION FALCON**!"

At Shay's command, the falcon soared over head, its wings opened, ready to drop its payload.

Except...

"I reveal my trap card: **Magician's Defense** , which cuts all damage involving Spellcasters in half!"

"USELESS!" Shay roared out, his own face down appearing. "I play **Raptor's Gust** , which negates your trap card and destroys it! NOW DISAPPEAR!"

"Screw that!" I shouted back, as my second trap flipped up. "Go **Magical Hats**!" A single hat appeared on the field and covered Dark Magician, while I drew two cards from my deck and placed them facedown, with two more hats appearing over them, before the hats began to move at a rapid pace.

"Now you have to guess where my magician is."

"Your stupid sideshow gimmicks won't stop me! Go **Revolution Falcon** , attack the hat on the far right!"

 **Revolution Falcon** swopped down, dropping its payload, the explosion from which caused debris from the rooftop to fly up, forcing me to guard my face. Lowering my crossed arms, I looked at the field. Two hats remained, with one destroyed and the card held within revealed.

"The card you attacked was the trap, **Magician's Navigation**. Which means my **Dark Magician** is safe!" As I said that, the hat on the far left opened up and the **Dark Magician** popped out. "And your battle phased has passed, so has your monster's effect!" I said as my magician's attack points returned to normal.

Shay scowled and placed two cards facedown. "My turn is over."

 _(Shay – 0 cards in hand/ 3 on the field/ 4000 LP)_

 _(White – 3 cards in hand/ 3 on the field/ 2800 LP)_

"I draw!" Placing the drawn card in my hand without looking, I took a moment to catch my breath. This duel was getting crazy and I was stuck on the defensive for most of it. Shay truly was a near unstoppable force of rage. But that rage was hampering him from getting further. I needed to break through his barrier, both physically and emotionally...Huh, I guess I've got an idea. Stupid one, but at this point I've accepted that most of my plans will be dumb ones with low chances of succeeding.

"Alright Shay, let me show you what I can really do." I said with a smirk crossing my face while I drew a card from my hand. "I activate the Continuous Magic card **Dark Magical Circle**!" I slid the card into its slot, while the hard-light version appeared in a bright flash, covering my side of field. "The first effect of this card allows me to look at the top three cards of my deck and select one that has " **Dark Magician** " in its text." Looking at the three cards I drew, I smiled as the pieces fell into place. "I chose to add the spell **Dark Magic Attack** to my hand. Now I can place the other cards in any order I chose to." I set the third card on top of the second before sliding them back into place.

"Now I play the magic card **Dark Magic Attack**! This card will destroy all of your spell and trap cards, so long as the **Dark Magician** is in play. Let him have it!"

The **Dark Magician'** s staff glowed a dark purple before he spun it around and fired a round of shots at Shay's backfield.

"I activate the trap, **Raidraptor – Readiness**! This card will prevent the destruction of my Raidraptors for the rest of turn."

Annoying but nothing I can't deal with. "Whatever. I attack with **Dark Magician**! GO **DARK MAGIC ATTACK!** "

The magician spun his staff again before firing a single beam of black energy at **Revolution Falcon**. The blast struck, sending out a small shockwave which made Shay stumble back. He righted himself as he glared at me, his life point counter dropping by 500. Geez, his glares were really starting to lose their effectiveness.

"You'll pay for that White!"

"Talk to my lawyer!" I laughed back. "I reveal my facedown monster, **Magician's Robe (Att:700/Def:2000)**!" The outline of the Dark Magician's robes appeared on the field, with smoke curling off it. "My turn ends here."

 _(Shay – 0 cards in hand/ 1 on the field/ 3500 LP)_

 _(White – 2 cards in hand/ 4 on the field/ 2800 LP)_

"MY TURN!" Shay roared as he drew. Not bothering to look at his card, Shay pointed at the field. "I use **Revolution Falcon's** ability again! Now attack his Magician!"

"Tough shit Shay! I activate the effect of my **Magician's Robe**! By discarding a magic or trap card I can Special Summon a **Dark Magician** from my deck!" I discarded a magic card – **Illusion Magic** – from my hand, while another slid out of my deck. I grabbed the card and slammed it onto my disk, a second **Dark Magician** appearing alongside the first.

"Doesn't matter! Now you lose!"

"Wrong! I use **Dark Magical Circle's** second effect! When a **Dark Magician** is summoned, I can banish one card on the field!" This got the first surprised reaction from Shay that I had seen. Huh, nice change of pace from angry.

The **Dark Magical Circle** under me glowed as **Revolution Falcon** charged, before being stopped by the glowing energy. The two magicians on my field pointed their staffs at the falcon, before two beams shot forth, rapping around the mechanical bird, before it vanished with a small, comedic pop...weird.

Shay's expression changed back to his typical scowl, but I think there was something else behind it. "I end my turn."

"I draw!" I looked over the field as I added the card to my hand. I could win. I could attack with my monsters, dealing 5000 points of damage, ending the duel...but that wasn't the point. No matter how much I wanted to win, I had to put that aside. I had to get a start on Shay's long ass character development. Which meant two things...Oh this was gonna hurt.

"Step one: catharsis." Shay and Yuto – who had been watching silently from the sidelines – looked at me in confusion. "You have a lot of anger in you Shay. A lot of justified anger. But that anger is keeping you from seeing the bigger picture and from forming new bonds with people. You are acting out of anger and hatred – again understandably – but you can't win this war with just your anger. Sooner or later you'll burn out and be beaten by someone. Duel Academy has some real dueling monsters on their side, not to mention other threats you'll face if you charge in alone."

I took a breath and clenched my right hand, ignoring the sharp pain from the burns that were present. "So, in order to get you to listen, I'll have to give you some form of catharsis. Some way to release part of your anger and hatred. Now let me show you one way I can do that! I play my Magic Card: **The Eye of Timaeus!"**

I held the magic card up to sky as it glowed, before a bright beam shot out. The beam grew before it shattered, revealing a large blue dragon with a scar over its eye. "This magic card allows me to perform a fusion summon without the need for **Polymerization**!"

 **Dark Magician** and **Timaeus** flew towards each other before disappearing into a void of dark energy. The field grew silent before a roar was released from the void, where the **Dark Magical Circle** appeared before shattering as a figured emerged from within.

"Master of Magician's! Embrace the aid of the Legendary Hero and ascend to your knew power! Fusion Summon! Appear the Level 8 Fusion Monster, **Dark Magician the Dragon Knight (Att:3000/Def:2500)**!"

The figured landed on my side of the field, revealing itself to be the dragon Timaeus with an armored **Dark Magician** riding on its back. The power the two gave off forced me to stop and stare at the majestic creature in front of me. I smiled as both the dragon and rider turned their heads to look at me, nodding in anticipation.

Looking back at Shay I saw him glaring once more, but not at me. He was glaring at my Dragon Knight, knowing the kind of monster it was. Well, I would have to snap him out of his pure hatred. "Go **Dark Magician the Dragon Knight**! Attack Shay directly with Dragon Magic Blast!"

At my command, Timeaus opened his mouth, a blue beam charging up, while the Dark Magician raised his staff and charged his own beam. The two shot out, before colliding and combining into one large beam, which slammed into the ground in front of Shay, sending up a large cloud of smoke and knocking him off his feet.

Shay slammed into the rooftop behind him, bouncing once before coming to a stop. Groaning, Shay got to his feet, breathing rapidly with dirt and grime on his cloths, small tears having appeared as well. Blood dripped from a small cut on his head as he stalked back into place. I'll give it to him; he was taking this well. All I had to do was declare an attack with my second Dark Magician and I would win.

"I end my turn." I said as I lowered my left arm and with it my DuelDisk. Looking at Shay, I saw the angry and surprised look on his face, before it was hidden back under his stoic mask. "This is it Shay. This monster right here," I said as I gestured to my Dragon Knight. "he embodies the very thing you need to survive. The Dark Magician is strong on his own, but without help from others he will fall. He's just like your Raidraptors Shay! You're an amazing duelist, one who will be instrumental in taking down Duel Academy and saving the world, but without help you'll fail and die."

Shay's scowl lessoned with each word I was saying, each one striking a chord in him, and by the time I finished talking, his facial expressions became neutral and subdued. I could still see the anger burning in his eyes, yet at that moment I knew, and he knew, that my words had gotten through to him. At least, on some level.

"NOW FINISH THIS DUEL SHAY!"

Shay placed his hand on top of his deck before silently drawing a card. "i activate the Magic Card, **Pot of Greed**. Now I draw two more cards." Placing his two new cards in his hand, Shay looked up. "You are a crazy bastard Jonathan White...but even crazy bastards are right once in a while."

"Now, I summon **Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius (Att:1300/Def:1600)**!" The bright green mechanical bird appeared on the field, followed by two more copies of itself. "I can also summon two more **Vanishing Lanius's** from my due to my monsters effect!"

"Now," Shay said while raising his hand to sky. "I'll take my three level 4 **Vanishing Lanius's** and overlay them! With these three monsters I build the Overlay Network!"

The birds turned into energy spheres before flying into the Network, causing an explosion to occur. A new bird appeared, wreathed in flames.

"Obscured falcon, raise your sharpened talons in front of adversity, spread your wings of rebellion! Xyz Summon! Appear! Rank 4! **Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (Att:100/Def:2000)**!"

Rise Falcon spread its wings, dispersing the flames as it hovered in the air, its three Overlay Units spinning around it.

"Now I use my **Rise Falcon's** effect! By removing one Overlay Unit, my monster gains the combined attack points of all Special Summoned Monsters on my opponents field!"

An Overlay Unit vanished as **Rise Falcon** began burning, its attack points rising to 5600.

"Now **Rise Falcon** attack! Destroy his **Dragon Knight**!"

The burning **Rise Falcon** spread its wings fully and charged at my **Dragon Knight** , who opened fire on the monster, only for the magic to be deflected by the flames. Quick enough, **Rise Falcon** slammed into **Dragon Knight** , causing a massive explosion.

Here's a tip for any future duelists – Dueling on the roof is no fun. Especially when the shockwave from a powerful attack causes you to fly backwards and nearly fall off. Luckily, I only slammed into the raised up edge of the roof, which broke my fall...and hopefully nothing else.

Groaning I looked up at Shay, as he walked towards me, Yuto behind him, as silent as ever. The two stopped in front of me.

"Not bad. You made some mistakes, but it's nothing we can't work with." Yuto said.

"I guess...you aren't completely useless." Shay admitted as I climbed to my feet. "Oh, and one more thing."

WHAM!

Shay's fist had lashed out and hit in the damn eye again! "MOTHERFUCKER WHY!"

"Two reasons: You still have some explaining to do."

"AND WHATS THE FUCKING SECOND ONE!"

Shay shrugged as his lips twitched upwards. "Thought it'd be funny."

* * *

 **So, here's the next chapter. I hope everyone enjoys it. I'm back and ready to kick ass.**

 **UPDATE: MARCH 3,2020: I NEED A HELPER! SOMEONE WHO CAN EITHER BETA OR WORK WITH ME TO WRITE! PLEASE HELP! MESSAGE IF INTERESTED!**

 **TheSaintsFollower, signing off.**


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